The Appointment
by actionman81
Summary: Daniel has to be there, but he doesn't want to.


Daniel didn't want to be there  
In fact, he didn't even want to go  
Peggy had made him  
He sat in the waiting area, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation, but none came. That is, none came from any external sources. The only provocations came from within him.  
How long had it been since he'd seen her last? Since they'd spoken? It seemed like months, years even, though it hadn't probably been more than a few weeks.  
"Mr. Sousa" she called out. Daniel lifted his head  
There she was, radiant as ever, though her smile had been replaced with a stern—no, a firm expression. No nonsense. He figured she'd learned that from Peggy.  
With some labor, he got up, managed to get into a standing position, and hobbled his way behind her.

Daniel sat on the leather like bed. It wasn't really a bed, but more like a bed sized bench. Strewn around him, were various exercise equipment, dumbells, pulleys, ropes, even a large ball that looked as if someone had taken a child's rubber ball and given it steroids.  
"Go ahead and take off your shirt, and your pants" she was serious now; no smiles, nothing.  
"Look I-" he began  
"You know" she stopped him, "I do have a name"  
"I know" he nodded  
"The world won't end. I won't crumble if you say it"  
"Well, yeah" he started  
"Go on" she held her chart at her hips and glared at him  
"Violet, I" he opened his mouth  
"I'm glad you remembered" she was sarcastic. He didn't remember seeing this side of her. He couldn't really blame her, "Go on, take off your shirt and pants. It's not as if I'll leap on you" she was blunt  
"Right" he unbuttoned his shirt. The pants were next. He slipped them off, and his shoes. The leg was after that. He unbuckled the straps and slipped it off.  
God, how he felt naked there; not just without his clothes, but without his leg. He hadn't even been like that with Peggy yet. They weren't really married, not yet, and he didn't want to be improper with her. Was he cheating on her by being here?  
No, no, because she'd told him to go. They'd argued about it earlier, last night  
"My goodness, Daniel, look at your gait" Peggy had been aghast  
"What's wrong with it?" Daniel tried to straighten up, but his leg, his prosthetic, slipped from under him, and ended up askew  
"All that work you put in, all that physical therapy. Has it all been for naught?"  
"Well, I wouldn't say that, but"  
"But what? You'd made such strides in your therapy, in how you were moving around"  
"I thought – I thought that sort of thing didn't matter"  
"You matter" she moved closer to him, "I want you to be the best that you can be"  
"I am" he was defiant  
"I don't blame Violet" she changed the topic  
"What?"  
"You're not going back to physical therapy because of her, isn't it?"  
He hated when she was right.  
No, he loved it.  
"It's not that"  
"Daniel" she cupped his face in her hands. He would literally melt if he could whenever she did that. A lazy smile danced on his face  
"Then what is it?"  
He was jolted back into the conversation  
"I just feel—uncomfortable"  
"You'll feel worse when all the progress you've made goes – under the bridge"  
"I—I" he hesitated  
"I can see the difference" she sighed, "If you don't want to do this for yourself, at least do it for me. I'll love you no matter what, but I hate seeing you do this to yourself—putting off something important for a frivolous reason"  
He hated that she could see inside him  
No, no, he loved that, too.  
It was just frustrating.  
She always knew him, inside and out.  
She was an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, and all he wanted was to spend the rest of his life understanding her.  
So he was here now, in a room, in his underwear, with Violet.

"Lie down"  
"But"  
"Lie down" she was firm. She was always like that when she was giving him physical therapy  
"You've been moving your leg wrong" she held the stump and guided it up and down, like a lever, so the hip moved, but nothing else about the leg did.  
"You don't want to have a contracture"  
"I know that"  
"And yet you're here"  
Daniel sighed  
"With this sort of amputation, the most common contracture would be when the hip becomes stiff"  
Daniel thought back to his altercation with Fennhoff. While keeping his gun trained on the mastermind, he had shifted his weight incorrectly, and his prosthesis slipped from under him. He'd had to force himself upright to straighten the leg, and his gait.

"You hip" she frowned, "you know that muscles and soft tissues become stiff and fibrous from lack of movement"  
"Yeah"  
"So, why haven't you been keeping up with your exercises?"  
Daniel was silent  
"I know you've got a lot going on" she softened, guiding the stump side to side now, like ship's wheel, "Casework, and – um"  
Daniel sighed, "It's ok. I'm sorry"  
Violet was quiet, and concentrated on the stretching exercise. Finally, she nodded, "Thanks" she said softly, "Go ahead, sit up and put your leg on. I want to go over some gait exercises with you"  
Daniel did as instructed. He strapped on his leg, and held his crutch.  
"If you're not careful, you can have permanent contractures" Violet ran her hand down his spine, straightening his back, pushing on his vertebras gently  
"I don't want you ruin the progress you've made" she spoke about his gait, "or your reliance on your crutch"  
She made a good point. He'd been standing unaided for some time, after he'd begun therapy with her. He could get into a kneeling position easily, and get back into a standing position just as easily.  
Today, he was gripping the crutch handle as though it were a life preserver  
"I want you to concentrate on where you're placing your foot, and where you're distributing your weight" Violet was now facing Daniel, walking backwards in front of him as he hobbled towards her, across the room  
"And, I want you to tell Peggy to make sure you're doing your exercises"  
Daniel was completely surprised by that last statement and nearly fell over. Violet caught him by his shoulders and positioned him back on his feet, as though he was a shop window mannequin.  
"I know how you feel' she looked him in the eye, "and I know how she feels about you" she blinked back something. Was it a tear? He wasn't sure. She continued, "and if she loves you, the way I know she does, then you've got to let her know how important it is that you continue your exercises, your therapy, or whatever progress we've—you've made, it'll be for nothing"  
"Right" he looked down at his shoes for a moment, "the progress we made" he nodded  
She forced a smile, "I'm glad you're happy, Daniel" she meant it. There was no sarcasm in her words, "I hope – someday – someone will – will" she swallowed back her emotions  
"Hey" it was his turn to hold her, "it's ok—I'm sorry"  
"No" she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, "It's not that"  
"Then what?" he took her hand is his, and then saw the embroidered initials on the handkerchief, J.T.  
"You met someone?" he was genuinely concerned  
"The girls joke that its Florence Nightingale Syndrome" she smiled, and sniffed back some residual tears, "but he's really very nice. Confident, and knows what he wants"  
"That's good" Daniel smiled  
They stood there, holding hands, standing quietly together  
"Maybe" he began, "later on, we could – go to dinner, the four of us?"  
"Maybe" she looked at him  
"Does he make you happy?" Daniel smiled softly, "the way you think that—Peggy and I" he let the words drop off without a real ending to the sentence  
"He does" Violet looked wistfully, not at Daniel, but perhaps picturing her man  
"I'm glad" Daniel was genuinely pleased  
"Go" Violet smiled, "get your pants on. We're done here, today, but I want to see you next week for a follow up"  
Daniel walked back to the bench, put his pants on, and slipped his shirt over his shoulders  
"And Daniel" Violet called as Daniel buttoned his shirt closed  
"Yeah?"  
"Tell Peggy I want to see her next time, so I can show her how to stretch your muscles at home, so they don't atrophy"


End file.
